Generic / unsupported SIP-phones: How to rename them / no menu item for "generic SIP-phone" available?

[KaiK]

We are using V16 Update 5. Recently I connected two Yealink SIP T49G to our network. Besides being not officially supported by 3CX, those were immediately discovered and correctly displayed in the 3CX phone overview. But I was not able to assign any of those to an extension. The only workaround I found was to select a similar phone within "Extension/Phone provisioning" and do some manual adjustments. Therefore I selected the Yealink T48 as basis, as this is quite similar to the T49G. It worked. BUT: Now, in the extension, it displays "T48" as the extensions phone. This is misleading as it is an T49G and I'm wondering on how this could be renamed.

Is it possible to rename the SIP-phone assigned to an extension?
Why is there not a "generic SIP-phone" entry in the drop down list of available phones that can be used to build upon?
--> In my case I would have selected "generic SIP-phone" instead of "T48", finalize its configuration and then rename it to T49G. Perfect!

I understood from a similar post, that 3CX is moving away from non-supported phones. But looking at new ones like Yealink VP59, those phones are great and provisioning them works. So only renaming does not seem to work, neither does selecting a "generic SIP-phone".

How do you handle such non-supported phones?

Thanks!

 

[Evolute IT]

We are using V16 Update 5. Recently I connected two Yealink SIP T49G to our network. Besides being not officially supported by 3CX, those were immediately discovered and correctly displayed in the 3CX phone overview. But I was not able to assign any of those to an extension. The only workaround I found was to select a similar phone within "Extension/Phone provisioning" and do some manual adjustments. Therefore I selected the Yealink T48 as basis, as this is quite similar to the T49G. It worked. BUT: Now, in the extension, it displays "T48" as the extensions phone. This is misleading as it is an T49G and I'm wondering on how this could be renamed.

Is it possible to rename the SIP-phone assigned to an extension?
Why is there not a "generic SIP-phone" entry in the drop down list of available phones that can be used to build upon?
--> In my case I would have selected "generic SIP-phone" instead of "T48", finalize its configuration and then rename it to T49G. Perfect!

I understood from a similar post, that 3CX is moving away from non-supported phones. But looking at new ones like Yealink VP59, those phones are great and provisioning them works. So only renaming does not seem to work, neither does selecting a "generic SIP-phone".

How do you handle such non-supported phones?

Thanks!

Copy the Yealink T4x template as custom, add a new <model> line as T49G and use that template instead. It will then show up correctly.

 

[Saqqara]

Info on custom templates https://www.3cx.com/docs/custom-ip-phone-templates/

It may be more complicated than adding a new model, as you will find within the template certain code will relate to a certain type of phone.

 

[JohnS_3CX]

This can work, but since the device is not officially supported, it may not be configured correctly 100%

I would suggest to stick with supported models if possible, otherwise you can contact the manufacturer to see if they offer a template as an alternative.

 

[KaiK]

Thank you all! @JohnS: Do you have information on whether support for Yealink VP59 is to come?

 

[JohnS_3CX]

No support currently planned as far as I'm aware.

 

[KaiK]

Thank you JohnS.


Can you or anyone from 3CX please give insight into why the Yealink V59 and other flagship phones like former T49G are not officially supported?

Is it their comparably high price, exhaustive feature set, etc. In my personal opinion, they are well suited for management but also for meeting rooms. And as I meanwhile tested with several T49Gs, provisioning of basic functions is not a big deal. Most things even worked with the T48-template. Even if some of the premium features would not be autoprovisioned, I could still use the great video conferencing features plus excellent sound quality in a meeting room. On the other hand my personal expectation is that especially those flagship products make their way on your roadmap.

Sharing your reasons for not taking VP59 (T49G) into consideration, would also be helpful for improving our consulting efforts towards our customers, when it comes to making purchasing decisions. Some ask for such devices, others buy/bought them already. It's sometimes hard to explain why they spent money for a flagship phone that is not officially supported by 3CX.

Btw... other users have also asked about template availability for Yealink VP59, see
https://www.3cx.com/community/threads/max-conference-participants-using-a-phone.63892/
https://www.3cx.com/community/threads/yealink-vp59.66014/
https://www.3cx.com/community/threads/vp59-template.68227/
https://www.3cx.com/community/threads/android-webmeeting-app-on-yealink-vp59.69133/

Thanks in advance for taking this with you and someone from 3CX giving insight into the balancing of arguments pro/cons such phones, especially the Yealink VP 59 at 3CX.

 

[JohnS_3CX]

Hi,

When it comes to supported phones they are not just made to work once and left alone, there is template and firmware maintenance considerations that come with each model we support. So it's more likely that models in high demand will be supported VS models that are in less demand like executive phones or video phones, especially now that you can jump in a web meeting straight from your webclient or mobile without the need for an expensive videophone.

We do not prevent you from using these devices of course, it's just not officially tested and confirmed to be supported but you can still provision it manually or use your own template if customers request a specific model you can provide them with. The main caveat I see is that in case you have issues with it, we will not be able to provide support, or configuration, or compatible firmware with that specific model.

 

[KaiK]

Thank you very much, JohnS, for providing us with this insight. So let's hope that demand for VP59 increases ;-)

 

[KaiK]

FYI only: Microsoft Teams supports the Yealink VP59 since June 2019
https://docs.microsoft.com/de-de/microsoftteams/teams-ip-phones